Big Red Design - Accessibility

Accessibility

We have produced a brochure on the subject of accessible web design, the text of which is reproduced below. The available formats are as follows:

Portable Document Format (PDF) - 412KB
Audio (MP3) - 1624KB
Audio CD
Standard Print
Large Print
Braille

Is your website accessible?

What is accessibility?

In the context of a website, accessibility is a measure of how well the site works for different users. It is important to remember that users experience a site in different ways - for example a blind user may use a braille terminal or a screen reader.

Why is it important?

In order for your website to be as productive as possible, it has to be available to the maximum target audience. If the site is accessible, it makes it easier for everyone to use, in particular, those using older web browsers, people with visual impairments and those using unconventional input mechanisms.

The Disability Discrimination Act Code of Practice specifically covers the accessibility of websites. In 2004, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) carried out an investigation into web usability, which found many public websites impossible for disabled people to use. The DRC Chairman, Bert Massie said "Organisations that offer goods and services over the web already have a legal duty to make their websites accessible to disabled people."

Australia's Disability Discrimination Act has also been used to tackle web accessibility. In Maguire vs. Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, a blind man took the Sydney Olympics to court over the inaccessibility of their website and won, receiving A$20,000 compensation.

Accessibility is not purely for the benefit of the disabled though. A well-designed, conformant and accessible website will be easier to use, whatever device it is read on: be it a graphical or text-only browser, palmtop, phone or WebTV set-top box.

Some of the business benefits of an accessible website are:

Increased Market Share and Audience Reach
Improved Efficiency
Demonstration of Social Responsibility
Reduced Legal Liability

Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) Disability Discrimination Act Code of Practice states:

The Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person:

by refusing to provide (or deliberately not providing) any service which it provides (or is prepared to provide) to members of the public; or

in the standard of service which it provides to the disabled person or the manner in which it provides it; or

in the terms on which it provides a service to the disabled person.

(Page 7, point 2.2)

The Code of Practice makes it clear that the Disability Discrimination Act applies to websites in the following example:

"An airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service to the public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject to the Act."

(Page 13)

On pages 69 and 71, the Code of Practice also cites "accessible websites" as aids that might help to ensure that services are accessible to people with a hearing disability or visual impairment.

The relevant parts of the Disability Discrimination Act have been in force since October 1999 and the Code of Practice was published in May 2002.

W3C Standards Compliance

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the body that sets out the standards for the languages, such as HTML and CSS, that are used to construct web pages. We at Big Red Design ensure that your website follows these standards as this helps to ensure that the site will work, whatever web browser a visitor to the site is using. It is also one of the requirements of WAI-AA rated accessibility.

Accessibility Ratings

The W3C have a scheme called the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), which sets out accessibility ratings for web pages. There are three levels in the scheme:

The most basic accessibility level, which must be met. Otherwise, one or more groups will find it impossible to access information in the document.

This level should be met because if it isn't, some people will find it difficult to access information in the document.

This accessibility rating is the highest accessibility rating and may be met. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve access to Web documents.

The European Union recommends that member states' websites conform to at least WAI-AA and the UK Government recommends that government websites also reach that level of compliance.

Big Red Design always aims for WAI-AAA compliance where possible.

Easier to maintain

If your site follows the standards and uses well-structured mark-up, it is easier to update the content.

Big Red Design use a custom-built Content Management System (CMS) to manage your website. This means that you can log in and make changes to the site yourself whenever you want.

We design your site using the latest XHTML and CSS technology to ensure that it has a consistent look and feel, which will be adopted by any changes you make.

There is no software to install and you can update your site from any Internet connection. You don't have to worry about learning HTML or any other computer languages either, as built in to the CMS is an editor that will be familiar to users of word-processors such as Microsoft Word.